Gyógyító
by aixla
Summary: A young girl with amazing powers comes to the attention of Angel Investigations ... and someone else.
1. Spring Cleaning

Title: Gyógyító  
Author: Ailie McFarland  
Rating: PG-13  
Fandom: AtS  
Timeline: Post "Disharmony"  
Archive: http://www.geocities.com/aixla/fanfic.html  
Distribution: Oh! Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes.  
Disclaimer: Angel and his gang are the brain child of the Man, otherwise known as Joss Whedon. Marie is mine!  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this has taken so long ... I think I started this in April or something. I am renewed and reinvested, though. I'm gonna try for the ole' chapter a day ... kick my ass if I slack off again, please.  
  
  
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Chapter One: Spring Cleaning  
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"Someone explain to me again why I'm the one who's gotta wash the windows?"  
  
Cordelia sighed as she turned to Gunn. "Funny thing about windows, they tend to let sunlight in. So asking Angel is out unless you want to scoop him up in the dust pan later. And I don't want to spend the day in the emergency room because Wesley overdid it and pulled his stitches again. That leaves you."  
  
Gunn started to hand the Windex and rag to her "Your arms broken?"  
  
"Cordelia is re-organizing the file system." Wesley emerged from his office. "Everything is still in a shambles from the move, and it's imperative that we have things in order as quickly as possible."  
  
"My job description says demon killer, not maid," Gunn muttered as he headed for the first dirty pane of glass.  
  
"So Wesley," Cordelia leaned back in her chair. "Do you want the good news or the bad?"  
  
Wesley sighed and eased himself into a chair of his own, wincing slightly as he did so. Getting shot in the stomach was *not* one of the most pleasant things he'd ever experienced. "I suppose we should start with the bad, since things can only get better from there."  
  
"Good philosophy! Ok, so the bad is ... no repair shop is willing to tackle a blood soaked keyboard." She smiled a little, trying to look apologetic. After all, it was her ex-friend who had made the mess.  
  
"And the good?"  
  
"David Navid stopped by this morning, just to check in or something. You know how lonely he gets. Anyway, when he saw what happened he offered to donate a brand new Pentium IV, to be delivered straight to our door later this afternoon!"   
  
Wesley's jaw almost hit the floor. "My word! That is considerably generous of him. But we couldn't possibly ..."  
  
"Don't you dare say we can't accept it!" Cordelia practically shouted. "You said yourself, we need to have this place up and running again ASAP. And in case you haven't noticed, computers are pretty much vital to the research mode."  
  
"I'm just glad you understand them." Angel came lumbering sleepily down the stairs, carefully avoiding both Gunn and the sunlight streaming through the windows. "I mean, I can get around on one, but the stuff you and Willow do is just beyond me."  
  
"Can't teach an old vampire new tricks." Gunn called from his place at the window.  
  
Angel nodded and headed straight for the coffee. "Something like that."  
  
"As long as you're up, get me some?" Cordelia turned back to her desk and the pile of papers that was waiting for her.  
  
Angel smiled slightly to himself as he poured Cordelia's coffee. She may have forgiven him for his fall from grace, but she still wasn't above making him do some of the scutt work around the office. As he handed the mug to Cordelia, her face suddenly contorted.   
  
"Vision!" Angel called as he caught the mug with one hand and kept his friend from falling off her chair with the other.  
  
Cordelia neither heard Angel's voice nor felt his hands supporting her. The vision bombarded her senses, tearing her away from this reality and throwing her into another. There was a dark alley, damp from the day's rain and reeking of rotten garbage. A young girl with a horrified expression, and a hooded creature chasing her. Cordelia could feel the creatures hot breath on her neck, hear the sobs and pleads of the child, and was forced to watch as he plunged his blade deep into the girl's chest.  
  
"Alley, girl ... monster," she managed to gasp as the familiar surroundings of the office began to become clear again. She was on the floor, as usual, with her three male companions kneeling beside her. "Don't know what it was ... hood or mask or something covered it's face. But it killed her ... she's just a kid!"  
  
That was all Angel needed to hear. He was on his feet and headed toward the door when Wesley stopped him. "And where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Um, to rescue the girl?"  
  
"First, we don't know where she is. And second," Wesley sighed and pointed toward the window. "Have you looked outside lately?"  
  
Although late in the afternoon, sun was still pouring through the windows. "Oh yeah."  
  
"It's okay, we have time." With Gunn's help, Cordelia managed to get back behind her desk and was searching through the drawers for some sort of pain killer. "Sunset isn't for an hour, and this was most definitely a night time attack. Besides, I think I have an idea of where we need to be."  
  
"Alright," Wesley took charge. "Gunn, you will accompany myself and Cordelia. We will attempt to track down this alley."  
  
"Um, what about me?" Angel asked.  
  
Wesley thought for a moment. "Watch the office, answer the phone, and if you get the chance, sweep the floor?"   
  
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"  
  
Wesley didn't answer, simply walked out the door with Cordelia and Gunn in tow.  
  
"He's enjoying it." 


	2. Be Still My Heart

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Chapter 2: Be Still My Heart  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The streets of Los Angeles throb with life during the day. Vendors and street performers on every corner, couriers on bikes weaving their way through the throng of pedestrians and cars, people talking about anything and everything as they walk, sometimes on cell phones, less often to the real live people walking next to them.  
  
But at twilight, everything changes. The hawkers pack up their wares, the business people go home to their families, and the night life begins. Young people cover themselves with less cloth than it takes to make a handkerchief and take to the streets in droves. The lights come on and the music begins, and for many it doesn't stop again until the rising of the sun.  
  
On the surface, it seems a blissful assistance. But what happened beyond the lights of the clubs and the smoke filled bars was another matter all together. Angel realized this all too well as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, the quickest way he knew to reach the location from which Wesley had called him.  
  
"What do we know?"  
  
The Englishman jumped, then grimaced as the movement pulled at his wound. "Good gracious. Must you always sneak up on people like that?"  
  
Angel smiled slightly. "Part of my job description."  
  
"Well the good news is we think we've discovered the correct alley."  
  
"And the bad?"  
  
"Well, it's an extremely long alley," Wesley sighed. "There are several spots that might be the place Cordelia saw in her vision. Gunn and Cordelia have found a vantage point from which they can cover almost half the area. The plan is for us to do the same, and for whomever spots the girl first to call the others for backup. Hopefully we can all assemble before the attack begins."  
  
~And if we don't there's a good possibility someone will wing up dead.~ But Angel kept his doubts to himself. Once he had made all the decisions around the office, but those days were over. It was Wesley's operation now. ~At least they kept my name on the door.~  
  
Angel waited patiently as Wesley gingerly exited the car, and took a moderate pace as they started to walk through the dark alleyway. Although Wesley never complained, it was obvious that the man was still in a great deal of pain, and would be for quite some time.  
  
The vampire wracked his brain for something, anything he could say to his friend. He wished he could turn back the clock, go back to the days when things had been easier. Before Darla, before the darkness. Angel opened his mouth to speak, unsure of exactly what he would say but knowing he couldn't stay silent any longer. "Wesley, I ..."  
  
The silence was shattered by an ear-piercing cry of a child.  
  
"Oh my god," Wesley said, but Angel was already off and running. "Angel! Angel!" Unable to keep up, Wesley quickly used his cell phone to call Cordelia and Gunn.  
  
Meanwhile, Angel was within sight of the attack. The hooded creature was easily three times the size of the girl cowering before him, possibly more. As the shadowed shaped of the child squirmed in a desperate attempt to free herself the monster raised it's right hand, the twelve inch blade it contained winking in the yellow glow of the street lamps.  
  
With a primal growl and a final burst of speed, Angel threw himself at the girl's attacker. For the split second in which the creature was taken off guard, the vampire had the upper hand. The attacker collapsed to the ground under the force of Angel's blow.   
  
"Run!" In just the short time which it took Angel to shout the command to the girl, the beast was on its feet again. What had appeared to Cordelia to be some sort of hooded article of clothing was actually a cloaking spell of some kind. The creature had wrapped a small area of blackest night around itself, masking all his movements. A hand shot out and gripped Angel by the throat, lifting him off the ground before he had the chance to retaliate in any way. With its free hand, it used the dagger to tear through the flesh of Angel's stomach.  
  
Angel howled in pain.   
  
"Angel!" the vampire foggily heard Gunn call his name. With his last ounce of strength, he kicked the area where he supposed the hand with the dagger must be, grunting in satisfaction when the piece of metal clanked to the pavement. Unarmed and soon to be outnumbered, the creature dropped Angel as well. Before running off into the night, it retrieved the dagger and plunged it into Angel's side a second time.  
  
The pain was immense. No matter how many times Angel was stabbed or shot, he never ceased to be amazed by the burning, throbbing, strength-robbing power of pain. Eyes closed, Angel felt for the hilt of the dagger and attempted to pull it out. But the handle was slick with his blood, and he lacked the strength to complete the task.  
  
Soft, warm flesh caressed Angel's forehead. He opened his eyes, expecting to see Cordelia kneeling beside him. Instead it was the child. Her sea green eyes welled with tears still unshed; the ones which had already fallen exposing trails of pale freckled skin beneath dirt-coated cheeks. The fire in Angel's belly flared angrily as the girl wrenched the dagger from the wound, and Angel cried out.   
  
"Shh," she whispered softly as she placed one tiny hand over Angel's eyes, the other on the hole in his abdomen. Immediately a sense of calm filled Angel's soul, and a warmth spread throughout his limbs, as if the frozen blood in his veins had suddenly begun to thaw.  
  
*Thud*  
  
Was the girl pounding on his chest? Why?  
  
*Thud*  
  
No, the sensation was from the inside, so strong it threatened to split open his rib cage.  
  
*Thud*  
  
Angel's heart was beating!  
  
As soon as the realization was made, the muscle suddenly returned to its frozen state. All the warmth which had filled his body dissipated. Angel had been so pre-occupied with the movement of his heart that he hadn't even noticed his lungs filling with oxygen until they were sucked empty again, almost as if a vacuum hose had been inserted into his throat. The air crackled with electricity.  
  
Suddenly, Angel found himself sitting upright. The small girl lay across his lap, pale and seemingly lifeless. He gingerly felt her neck, sighing with relief when he realized that the girl had not passed away.   
  
"Angel? What happened?"  
  
Angel was too stunned to answer Cordelia's question. There would be time for answers later. Instead he stood, wrapped the girl in his coat for warmth, and carried her to back to his car. 


	3. Out of the Mouths of Babes

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Chapter 3: Out of the Mouths of Babes  
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"Amazing," Wesley whispered, so as not to wake the small child sleeping in Angel's bed. Angel, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth at such a rate that Wesley was surprised he hadn't worn a hole clear through the carpet.  
  
The fact was, Angel shouldn't have been able to walk at all. Wesley had seen the dagger with which the vampire had been stabbed, the large rent in his shirt, the pools of blood mixing with motor oil in the alleyway. Angel healed fast ... but not this fast. His shirt hung in tattered red shreds around smooth, unmarred skin.   
  
And the story he had told was unbelievable.  
  
"So what you are saying is that ..."  
  
"She's a healer," Angel said without looking up. "A strong one. I met a few in my day, but never with a gift like this." His face softened as he looked toward the frail figure shrouded in blankets. "Never one so young."  
  
Cordelia entered the room carrying a basin and washcloth. With tender care she began to clean the child's face. "God," the woman said softly as the angelic face was exposed. "She can't be more than twelve o rthirteen." The girl was pale, deathly so. And the dark brown hair framing her face in shoulder length waves emphasized the deep yellow circles under her eyes. "Shouldn't we be taking her to a hospital or something?"  
  
Wesley shook his head. "I don't believe so. If this young girl is ... that is if she does possess the power to heal, then it is more than likely that her body is just ... rejuvenating itself. To mend flesh is taxing on the healer's body, from what I have read."  
  
"When she tried to heal my wounds her power went overboard," Angel theorized. "It wanted to make me breathe, start my heart ..."  
  
Cordelia looked up. "Bring you back from the dead?"  
  
"Precisely." Wesley finished. "But there is no force that can do that. When a person is brought back from the other side, it can never be in their original form. Something is always changed, or wrong. Trying to do what she did ... it's like trying to jump start a car that doesn't have an engine. It just doesn't work." He sighed and fidgeted in his chair, his healing wounds making it difficult to be comfortable. "She's lucky she isn't dead. When a person tries to push their power too far, or when that power takes control of them, the results are often disastrous."   
  
"Wesley," Cordelia hissed, grabbing his attention.  
  
The child was awake. Her body curled up into the fetal position, blankets pulled over her face so that only her eyes were visible.  
  
Wesley smiled and leaned forward in his chair, so that his elbows rested on the bed. "Hello. Don't be afraid. We brought you here to help you."  
  
At the sound of a friendly voice, the panic in the girl's eyes began to dissipate. She pulled the covers down to her chin, allowing her to turn her head and more closely examine the three adults hovering over her. After a moment, her eyes settled back on Wesley. Brow furrowed with concern, one hand snaked out from underneath the heavy blanket to touch his.  
  
It was over in an instant. A warm sensation, a flash of light, and it was over. Wesley blinked in surprise, realizing that the pain he had been living with for the past month was completely gone. He had no doubt that a close examination of his abdomen would not show signs of even a faint scar. "Thank you," he said quietly, still somewhat stunned. "But ... why?"  
  
She tilted her head, as if the answer was obvious. "Because I can."  
  
He shook his head, amazed. "My name is Wesley. This is Cordelia. And I suppose you've already met Angel."  
  
"I'm Marie," the child responded.  
  
As Marie turned to look at him, Angel straightened slightly. He had the feeling that he was being examined by eyes much wiser than their age would suggest.  
  
"You aren't human." It was a statement rather than a question.  
  
Angel bowed his head. "Not technically."  
  
Marie smiled reassuringly, her eyes sparkling as her strength began to return. "It's ok. I've been around. I know not all of you are bad."  
  
Shocked by this revelation, Angel could only stare. It was Wesley who asked the obvious follow-up question. "Been around where?"  
  
"On my own. On the street. It's been about two years now, I guess."  
  
"Two years?" Cordelia's amazement was obvious. "But you ... how old are you?"  
  
"Ten." When everyone just continued staring, Marie continued. "Almost eleven, actually. It was just me and my mom for a long time. And when she found out what I could do ..." she looked away, "Well she didn't take it very well."  
  
Something about that didn't ring true for Angel, and the look Wesley shot him signified that he agreed.  
  
"Are you hungry, or anything?" Cordelia asked, tactfully changing the subject. "We don't have that much around here, but I think I can scrounge up some peanut butter and jelly or something."  
  
Marie shook her head. "Actually, I kinda just wanna go back to sleep, if that's ok."  
  
"Of course." Wesley stood and stretched, reveling in the pain-free motion.  
  
Angel moved to the bedside. "If you need anything, we'll be right downstairs."  
  
She snuggled deeper under the covers. Angel was almost out the door when he heard her call his name. "Yes?"  
  
The young face smiled gratefully. "Thank you." 


End file.
